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The FDA has recalled two ventilator-related devices. The Ventlab manual resuscitator was found to have a potentially leaking valve that could result in little or no airflow to the patient. The Bunnell Life Pulse High-Frequency Ventilator Patient Circuit, used for critically ill infants, has heater wire insulation that can melt, causing sparking and smoke.

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An analysis of data from 174 hospitals across 39 states found a decline in the rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections among children between 2007 and 2012. The rate of ventilator-related infections also dropped, from under two infections per 1,000 days to less than one. The findings appear in the journal Pediatrics.

The Supreme Court could fundamentally alter a system designed to protect Americans from bad drugs if it affirms a federal appeals court decision protecting the off-label promotion of drugs, according to this article. The government has not decided whether to appeal the ruling, according to the Justice Department. PhRMA said "as the Supreme Court, and now the Second Circuit, have recently affirmed, speech by biopharmaceutical companies is protected by the First Amendment, and any policy that restricts speech by biopharmaceutical companies, while allowing others to freely engage in similar speech, is subject to heightened constitutional scrutiny."

Tampa Bay Fisheries announced the recall of smoked salmon sold at Sam's Club due to potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Affected products include 1.25-pound smoked salmon packages distributed to retail outlets nationwide from Nov. 12 to Dec. 21.

The FDA has granted Mylan Pharmaceuticals approval for its chewable Phenytoin tablets in 50 mg strength to address seizures, including during and after neurosurgery. The drug is a generic formulation of Pfizer's Dilantin tablets.

Researchers reported in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases that children with ventilator-related upper respiratory infections who remained intubated after diagnosis and start of therapy had a fourfold increased risk of having the infection progress to pneumonia than those whose ventilator was removed immediately. Children who were given antibiotics for an extended period and those who received multiple antibiotics also had an increased risk of drug-resistant infections, the study found.